"When I see myself on an old Brady Bunch show," 16-year-old Mike Lookinland said, "I sometimes think that I'm watching a completely different person on screen." Brady Bunch fans who tune into their new show may get a similar feeling. The faces look familiar, but everything else has changed.

For almost six years the Bradys were one of TV's favorite families. They shared their home and lives with millions of viewers each week. Then the ratings dropped and soon the show was cancelled. Even though the cast went their separate ways, the show stayed alive through the magic of reruns.

Then a little over a year ago, a TV executive noticed that the Bradys' show was still enormously popular, even in reruns. He thought, "What if we could get them all together again in a new show?"

It was easier said than done, but after months of meetings and phone calls, the Bradys were reunited. But this time they're in the middle of a variety show, complete with singing, dancing, flashy costumes, and even water ballet!

Dynamite visited the set, where we spoke to the Brady kids about the new show. The show is a big production, with what seems to be a cast and crew of thousands. A line of dancers and swimmers paraded past, high stepping over the thick wires that snaked across the floor. Camera, sound, and light crews were busy adjusting their equipment for shooting. There were even two cameramen standing waist deep in the pool to film the water ballet!

We finally recognized Maureen McCormick (Marcia). The pretty 20-year-old looks much the same as she did when the first show ended. During a break she told Dynamite, "I really enjoy doing this show. It's a lot different from the first one.

I was 11 when we began the first series, and it seems like a long time ago. It's funny to see some of the reruns where we look so young."

In between shows, she kept busy acting in movies and TV, but she's glad to be back with the Bradys. "I love doing all the singing and dancing. There is a lot more rehearsing though," she said. As if to prove her point, the director shouted for the Bradys to return to the stage to practice the next song-and-dance routine. Onstage, Maureen practiced a few steps as Mike Lookinland watched and went through the motions with her while they waited for the cameras to roll.

Mike's gone through a few changes since the first show. "I don't look like I did then," he said. "Since Chris and Barry both had black hair, I had to dye mine the same color to get the part." Now Mike wears his blonde hair in an Afro and looks like a completely different person from the Bobby Brady of old.

"If they had asked me to rejoin the Bradys two years ago, I'd have said no," Chris Knight told us later. Dressed in jeans, the 19-year-old who plays Peter Brady looks as if he'd be more at home playing football with friends than acting in a TV show.

"When the first show ended I was happy in a way. I wasn't sure I wanted to be an actor. At the time I was halfway through my junior year in high school, and I decided that I really wanted to finish school.

"I didn't miss the show. I went to the beach with my friends, went to parties like any other kid. I thought that The Brady Bunch was something that was behind me. When I found out that the new show was going to be really different, I changed my mind. There's so much more we have to learn for each show. This whole show is a lot stranger. The Kroffts (the show's producers) are kind of spacey," he said pointing to the scene taking place onstage.

Two men with large hoses were spraying fake smoke through fake trees to give a snowy dreamlike effect for the next song. Meanwhile another camera filmed Maureen and Susan Olsen as they introduced a third Brady girl. Each time, after they said, "We'd like to introduce our sister, Jan," they'd turn to one side and start clapping, even though there was no one there.

If anyone can claim to hove grown up on TV, it's got to be Susan Olson (Cindy). Tune into an early episode of the first show and you'll see a babyfaced 7 year-old with pig-tails. She grew seven inches right before the viewers' eyes in the six years the show ran.

Susan has been in show business since she was a baby, when she did a few commercials. Her mother retired her when she was 3, then, as she says, "I made my come back at 5." The cancellation of the first show gave Susan a chance to pursue other interests. "I spent the time takirig it easy "she said, "going to school and riding horses. But it feels great to be back together again.

Susan introduced us to Geri Reischl (Jan), the newest Brady. Geri took Eve Plumb's place after Eve and her parents decided she had had enough of show business.

It took four auditions, but Geri finally got the part. Although she was excited, she wasn't nervous about joining a well-known act like the Brady Bunch. "I already knew some of them," she told us. "I'd done a commercial with Susan and I'd met some of the others." Standing side by side with Susan the two really don't look all that much like sisters but it's plain to see they've become good friends.

At 23, Barry Williams (Greg), the oldest Brady kid, is hardly a kid anymore. He told us at first he wasn't sure he wanted to rejoin the Bradys.

"I was doing what I always wanted to do-stage work. I had just finished touring the country with a play when my manager called me and told me about the plans to reunite the Bradys. I didn't want to give up my other work, so I wasn't sure I'd do the show. But when they told me they were going to let us do a lot of singing and dancing, I got really excited. It sounded like exactly what I wanted to do."

The Bradys had an hour dinner break before the evening shooting was to begin, so we let them eat and enjoy the few minutes rest they get. No one involved with the show would predict whether this show will be as popular as the first, but they're all hoping they've got another hit. Will the family that sings, dances, and plays together stay together? Tune in this fall and find out.

-Chip Lovitt

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